Title: Two exploratory studies of the relationships between teachers' epistemic beliefs and their online interactions

Authors: Ching Sing Chai, Seng Chee Tan

Addresses: National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Nanyang Walk, Singapore 637616, Singapore. ' National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Nanyang Walk, Singapore 637616, Singapore

Abstract: This paper reports two exploratory studies that investigate how teachers| epistemic beliefs are related to their online interactions. The first exploratory study investigated seven practicing teachers| epistemic beliefs through qualitative interview and how these beliefs are related to their online participation and depth of interaction over three inservice courses. The second study investigated 24 preservice teachers| epistemic beliefs through quantitative survey and how the beliefs were correlated with their online interactions. Both studies employed the knowledge building community (KBC) as the pedagogical model to facilitate co-construction of knowledge among the teachers. The results indicate that the teachers| epistemic beliefs are related to their online interactions. However, the pattern of correlations was different for the two studies. Further studies in these areas are suggested.

Keywords: epistemic beliefs; online interaction; inservice courses; preservice teachers; knowledge building communities; pedagogical models; pedagogy; correlation patterns; epistemology; internet; world wide web; Singapore; continuing education; life-long learning; ICT; information technology; communications technology; knowledge creation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCEELL.2011.039691

International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning, 2011 Vol.21 No.1, pp.13 - 24

Published online: 16 Oct 2014 *

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